Lead by Lucius Iunius Brutus, they rose in revolt against the king.
Brutus was the nephew of King Tarquin by marriage. Related he may have been to the king, but he had no reason to love him. Brutus was the son of Marcus, whose substantial wealth had been illegaly seized by King Tarquin at his death. Not only had Tarquin abused his power to steal Brutus' inheritence. Brutus' older brother had been murdered as part of the plot.
Believed somewhat of a harmless fool, he had been ridiculed by Tarquin by being made second in command (Tribunus Celerum). There seems little doubt that Brutus' elevation to this position was not meant as a promotion, but a humiliation. His inheritence stole and his brother murdered, Brutus was being mocked by a tyrant.
Now Lucius Iunius Brutus took revenge and led the city's nobility in revolt.
Prince Sextus fled to Gabii but was killed. Meanwhile the King with his family escaped to Caere. His palace was demolished.

For large image click on picture

Lucius Iunius BrutusCapitoline Museum,
Rome

The rebellion against Tarquinius failed to achieve final independence for Rome, but it should be the birth of the Roman republic. It was after this revolt, that the senate handed power to two consuls, although at first they were called praetors (a title which later should come to be the name of a different office of the republic). These consuls each held power for one year, in which they ruled much like joint kings of Rome.
What also needs to be kept in mind is that this rebellion was indeed a revolt by the aristocracy of Rome. Rome was never a democracy as we would understand it today, nor as the Greeks understood it. In the early days of the Roman republic all power would reside in the hands of the Roman aristocracy, the so-called patricians ( patricii).

The first ever two elected leaders of Rome were Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus. But the people soon turned against Brutus' colleague who was a Tarquin and hence directly related to the despised king. It wasn't long before he left for exile, being replaced by one Publius Valerius Publicola. Soon after a substantial plot was discovered, the aim of which was to place King Tarquin back on his throne. The conspirators were sentenced to death. Among them were Brutus' own two sons.
It is no surprise that after his ridicule, the theft of his inheritence, his brother's murder and the execution of his sons Brutus was filled with hatred toward King Tarquin.
Aided by the city of Veii, King Tarquinius in 509 BC sought to win back his city in battle, but failed. The battle saw the death Brutus, the founder of the Republic. With Brutus dead, it fell to his co-consul Publius Valerius Publicola to lead the Romans to victory. It was therefore he, who was the first ever Roman commander to lead his troops in triumph through Rome.

This Rome could never accept. The Latins had been foolish enough to provide the Romans with a cause for war.
Marcus Valerius Corvus had very quickly succeeded in quashing the mutiny, mainly by reconciliation. His forces were ready the moment war was declared (340 BC). While the Latins were still gathering their forces, Valerius marched his troops south, united with an army of Samnite allies and then, at Suessa Aurunca, descended upon a Latin-Campanian army which was utterly defeated.
Rome now offered the Campanians a favourable peace. Of course they accepted. It was a classic example of the motto: ‘divide and conquer.’
This left the Latins to face the Roman-Samnite war machine with only the Volscians as allies.
The outcome was inevitable. In two years of campaigning Rome thoroughly defeated the Latins and conquered the city of Antium.

For large image click on picture

Latin warrior of the 4th century BCMuseo della Civilta,
Rome

The effect of the 'Great Latin War' was to tighten Rome's grip upon Latium and to provide her with more lands upon which to settle her ever-increasing agricultural population. The Latin League was finally dissolved (338 BC). Some of the cities were granted full Roman rights, others were admitted to civil but not to political rights of Roman citizenship. All were debarred from forming separate alliances with each other or any external power.
Rome no longer dominated a Latin alliance. Rome now ruled Latium.

Lucius Scipio Barbatus marched his army south of Campania into Lucania where he swiftly drove the Samnites out of the region.
Yet Rome’s forces were now stretched. Never before had she operated with her troops so far south. In 296 BC the Samnites attacked with two separate forces. The lesser army moved into Campania, the major force, commanded by one Gellius Egnatius, moved north through Sabine territory and Umbria until it reached the boarder with the Gallic tribe of the Senones.
All along its march it had gathered further forces. Now it was joined by the fierce Senones and many Etruscans. This vast host now met the army of Scipio Barbatus who had been following Egnatius ever since he broke out of Samnite territory.

The Romans under Scipio Barbatus suffered a crushing defeat at Camerinum (295 BC).

The Samnites, conscious of the enormous power their enemy was becoming, had raised the stakes to heights never yet seen in Italy.

Having been made aware of the tremendous danger by the defeat of Camerinum, Rome levied an unprecedented force in response and put 40,000 men into the field under the command of Fabius Rullianus and Publius Decius Mus.

It must have been apparent to all that the contest of these two great forces would decide the fate of Italy.
The armies met at Sentinum in 295BC. Fabius commanded the left and calmly held the Samnite force in check, gradually gaining the advantage. Decius saw his right wing gruesomely mauled by the fierce Gauls and their terrifying chariots. The Roman right held, though only just. Decius lost his life stemming the Gallic charge. It was enough.
With the right wing holding, the gradual advance of the left against the Samnites decided the battle. The Samnite leader Egnatius died in the slaughter and his coalition lost a very great number of men.
Within the year (295 BC) Fabius received the surrender of the Umbrian rebels and the Gauls sued for peace. By 294 BC the Etruscan cities who had joined in revolt also had made their peace with Rome.
The crushing defeat of the Samnites and her allies in the north, now left Rome to deal with Samnite territory.
Lucius Papirius Cursor invaded Samnium and at Aquilonia in 293 BC achieved a crushing victory over the enemy, not merely defeating their main host but crushing the infamous ‘Linen Legion’ which represented the elite fighting force of the Samnites.
The battle of Aquilonia also saw Lucius Scipio Barbatus redeemed from his defeat at Camerinum. Commanding the left wing, he rushed the gates of the city which had been opened to allow the defeated army to retreat to safety.
The Battle of Aquilonia therefore saw the Samnites lose their elite fighting corps, the city of Aquilonia, suffer the death of 20,000 men and the capture of 3,500 more.
Rightly famed for their courage and tenacity the Samnites fought on, yet their case was hopeless. Consul Manius Curius Dentatus defeated them a last time in 290 BC and thereafter the Samnites simply could fight no more.
In 290 BC peace was agreed, perhaps on more favourable terms for the Samnites than Rome would have granted any less dogged foe.
They lost territory and were forced to become allies. Virtually all around the Samnites their neighbours now were allied with Rome, so making any further, independent Samnite actions impossible.
Roman military colonies were settled in Campania as well as on the eastern outskirts of Samnium.

Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, was nephew and successor of Alexander 'the Molossian' who had brought help before. He was married to a daughter of Agathocles of Syracuse which thereby may have given him hope of succeeding to that throne in time. Sicily may therefore have been his real objective, southern Italy merely being a stepping stone to that end.
Pyrrhus may well have seen this as his opportunity to do in the west, what Alexander the Great had achieved so famously in the east. This may not have been a vain hope. King Pyrrhus possessed a reputation as the greatest military leader since Alexander the Great.

As befitting his reputation, Pyrrhus arrived with an army of 25,000 men, drawn from various quarters of the ‘successor states’ to Alexander’s empire. He was also to introduce the war elephant onto the western battle field, bringing with him twenty of these fearsome animals.
The Tarentines quickly realized that they had got more than they had bargained for when they were placed under martial law (281 BC). The other Greek cities remained at a distance, not having asked for the famous general’s services in the first place.

Rome naturally was worried. She faced a challenge as never before. The very finest in Greek arms was assembled against her.
A very large force was raised, down to the lowest class of citizens, who were least likely ever to be called up.
One consular army was dispatched north to put down yet another rising by the Etruscans.
The other, commanded by Publius Valerius Laevinus, was sent south to meet Pyrrhus.
Laevinus marched through Lucania where he needed to garrison some of his forces to secure his retreat. With a force of 20,000 men Laevinus then met with Pyrrhus at Heraclea (280 BC).
The battle was ferocious. The Roman legions proved a match for Pyrrhus highly trained phalanx. Even the notoriously unreliable Roman cavalry gained some success. At one point Pyrrhus had his horse killed from under him and needed to be saved.
Yet the Romans had never yet seen, no matter fought, an elephant. The war elephants threw the Roman cavalry into disarray and the horsemen were driven off.
This left the Roman legions’ flanks exposed. They were outflanked and put to rout.
The Roman losses are reported to have been 15’000 men. Given their initial total of 20,000, that was a crushing defeat.
Yet Pyrrhus army itself had not fared much better. So severe had his own losses been, he famously commented that one more such victory would lose him the war. It is therefore to King Pyrrhus that we owe the expression of a ‘Pyrrhic victory’, defining a victory won at too great a cost.)
Had Pyrrhus suffered heavy losses on the battlefield, his overall position improved dramatically. News of his victory at Heraclea brought the Lucanians, Samnites and Greek cities onto his side. Rome was in headlong retreat.
At Rhegium the Roman legion which garrisoned the city mutinied.
It was in the light of such crisis that Pyrrhus chief advisor, Cineas, was sent to Rome to offer peace. Cineas addressed the senate, proposing that if Rome would forfeit all her territories won from the Lucanians, Bruttians and Samnites and guarantee to leave the Greek cities in peace, Pyrrhus would offer an alliance.
The senate indeed wavered in. To concede the Samnite territories after the terrible wars Rome had undergone to win them would be extremely harsh. Yet could Rome another test of strength against Pyrrhus now that he enjoyed the alliance of all of southern Italy?
It fell to Appius Claudius Caecus, a former censor now aged, infirm and struck blind, who had to be carried to the senate, to address his fellow senators, urging them not to give in and to hold firm against the invader. Appius Claudius won the day and Cineas’ peace proposal was rejected.

Pyrrhus’ force now marched on Rome. Through Campania, they pushed into Latium and reached as far as Anagnia, or possibly even Praeneste.
Though unexpectedly for Pyrrhus, as he marched into these areas no new allies joined his camp. Campania and Latium, so it seemed, preferred Roman rule to his.
Finding himself far from his base of power, with no local support, news now reached him that the consular army under Coruncianus which had been sent north to deal with the Etruscans was now returning to reinforce the forces of Laevinus. Meanwhile in Rome new levies were being raised.
Faced with such a show of strength, Pyrrhus deemed it wise to retire to winter quarters at Tarentum.

The year after Pyrrhus was on the advance again and took to besieging the city of Asculum. Rome came to meet his army with a force of 40,000 men, led by both consuls.
Pyrrhus’s forces were equal in number.
The battle of Asculum (279 BC) ended in stalemate, the Roman forces after a long, hard battle not able to make any further impression on the Macedonian phalanx, retired back to their camp. On balance victory was granted to Pyrrhus, yet no significant advantage was gained.
So hard had the fighting been that either side retired seeking no further contest that year.
Yet diplomatic developments were to provide a new twist.

Map: Pyrrhic War

If it is suspected that King Pyrrhus’ aim was always to seek to dominate Sicily then the appeal for help by the city Syracuse must have been a dream come true. At last he was provided with an excuse to campaign in Sicily. The city of Syracuse was blockaded by Carthage so it was in need of urgent help. Many Greek cities upon the island had fallen to the Carthaginians in recent years.
Carthage itself approached Rome, offering financial and naval aid. No doubt it was the hope of the Carthaginians that Rome might keep the adventurer from Epirus busy in Italy, leaving them free to conquer all of Sicily.
If at first this was rejected, Rome did eventually agree to such an alliance, recognising that whatever Pyrrhus’ plans, he was their joint enemy.
Had Carthage hoped to keep the Greek general lodged in Italy, her plan failed. Leaving a garrison behind to secure Tarentum, he sailed for Sicily in 278 BC.
With Pyrrhus gone, Rome found the hill tribes of southern Italy easy prey. The Samnites, Lucanians and Bruttians were swept off the field and their lands ravaged.
For three years Pyrrhus fought in Sicily, at first with great success, yet finally reaching a stalemate at the impregnable Carthaginian fortress of Lilybaeum.
Final victory in Sicily eluding him he abandoned this venture and returned to Italy, responding to the desperate calls for his return by the hill tribes and the Greek cities (276 BC).
The decisive battle was fought at Beneventum in 275 BC. Pyrrhus sought to achieve a surprise attack on the army of Curius Dentatus but was repelled, not least as the Romans had learned how to deal with his phalanx and elephants. With the second consular army under Cornelius closing to join Dentatus, Pyrrhus had to give way and retreat. Following his Sicilian adventure he no longer commanded the manpower that could match two Roman consular armies in the field. King Pyrrhus was severely defeated.
Recognising that the tide had turned against him, Pyrrhus returned home to Epirus. His parting words were memorable,
'What a battlefield I am leaving for Carthage and Rome !'

The tale goes that Pyrrhus later died during an assault on Argos, where an old woman seeing him fighting her son sword to sword in the street below supposedly threw a roof tile on his head. Although other sources read that he was assassinated by a servant.

The victory over Pyrrhus was a significant one as it was the defeat of an experienced Greek army which fought in the tradition of Alexander the Great and was commanded by the most able commander of the time.

The period in which the three Punic Wars were set spans over a century.
Once the wars were at an end, mighty Carthage which held sway, according to the Greek geographer Strabo, over 300 cities in Libya alone and 700'000 people within its own walls, was annihilated.

If the the first act of the war was the siege of Messana, by the joint forces of Carthage and Syracuse, the arrival of the Roman consular army under Appius Claudius made an end of it. (264 BC)
At once it was clear that the two old enemies of Syracuse and Carthage were not capable of operating as effective allies.

The siege of Messana lifted, in 263 BC Manius Valerius led an army into the territory of Syracuse and laid siege to the city itself.
The ill-judged attack on a city so marvelously as Syracuse fortified led to an inevitable failure.

Yet Valerius more than made up for this with a diplomatic success. After negotiations, Hiero switched sides and joined with the Romans in opposing Carthage.
Evidently Hiero saw the writing on the wall. The days of Syracusan power were numbered. The sheer scale of the armies committed by Rome and Carthage must have made that abundantly clear to him. Syracuse could simply no longer compete.

Sicily would henceforth be dominated by either Carthage or Rome. Faced with that choice it was little wonder Hiero chose the Romans rather than Greece’s ancient Phoenician enemy.

In the deal Hiero ceded to Rome the town of Messana and the greater part of his Sicilian domain. He also promised payment of one hundred talents annually for fifteen years. In return Rome confirmed him as King of Syracuse. (263 BC)

Rome’s foray into Sicily, despite its initial setback at the siege of Syracuse, began well.
Driving the Carthaginians from Messana and establishing an alliance with Hiero, mean that Carthage enjoyed no access to the straits.
If anything, this means that Rome’s primary war aim was achieved within a single year.

The war however was far from over.

Carthage responded to Roman successes by landing an army of no less than 50,000 men in Sicily under the command of a general called Hannibal (it was a fairly common Punic name), establishing its headquarters at the fortress of Acragas (later called Agrigentum), the second city after Syracuse on the island of Sicily.

The Roman army under the command of the consuls Lucius Postumius and Quintus Mamiluius, reinforced by Syracusan forces, marched across the island and placed Acragas under siege (262 BC). The campaign proved very hard.
Not least for the arrival of powerful Carthaginian reinforcements under a commander called Hanno.
Rome managed to defeat Hanno’s forces in battle, nonetheless they couldn’t prevent Hannibal’s forces from extricating themselves from the siege and withdrawing.
Even though their victory had failed to result in the destruction of the enemy’s army, Rome had triumphed, taking and sacking the city of Acragas, renaming it Agrigentum.

The taking of Agrigentum marked a vital step in the war. Were the Roman war aims unclear, now they had established that they could overcome Carthaginian arms, no matter what the scale of Punic resistance. It seems clear that it was at this point in time that Rome undertook to conquer all of Sicily.

The Carthaginians in turn were forced to realize that, whatever their supremacy might have been at sea, on land they were no match to the Roman legions.
For the remainder of the war they would not seek to enter into any pitched battles with Roman forces anymore.
Meanwhile Carthaginian supremacy at sea remained untouchable. Carthage had some 120 quinqueremes, whereas Rome possessed at best a few cruisers furnished by her Greek ports in southern Italy.

But initial Roman confidence after the clash at Agrigentum would prove ill-founded. 261 BC proved a year of indecisive campaigns which led to no tangible advances.

However, in 260 BC Rome was ready to challenge the Carthaginian domination of the sea. She was completing the construction of a battle fleet of 140 ships of war, which was to set out to do battle with the famous Punic navy.
Roman shipwrights had learnt much regarding the construction of a quinquereme (something of which previously they knew nothing at all) from a Carthaginian vessel which had been captured early in the war.

The command of the Roman forces was now split between Consul Gaius Duilius, who commanded the forces on land and his consular colleague Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio who commanded the fleet.

Scipio set out to Sicily with the first 17 vessels to be completed to organize for the arrival of the whole fleet, once it was completed.
However, Scipio got distracted by the promise of a quick, easy victory and managed to get himself captured in a foolish escapade over the island of Lipara, where he steered his flotilla of 17 vessels right into a Carthaginian trap. It earned him the eternal sobriquet ‘Asina’ (the ass) after his name. Meanwhile Scipio’s capture left command of all of Rome’s forces to Gaius Duilius.

The first ever proper Roman naval engagement happened at an unspecified stretch of the Italian coast, when the completed Roman battle fleet sailed toward Sicily to meet its commander-in-waiting, Duilius.
The very same Carthaginian commander, again a man called Hannibal, who had earlier captured Scipio Asina now commanded a flotilla of 50 ships to investigate the new Roman fleet. Somehow he was foolish enough to get drawn into a fight with the much larger force, whereby he lost most of his ships. Nonetheless he managed to slip away with the remainder of his force.

The trade routes of the Adriatic Sea had, prior to Roman dominance in Italy, been subject to the Tarentine fleet.
But with the loss of independence of Tarentum, responsibility for securing the sea ways of the Adriatic now fell to Rome.
The coast of Illyria was rife with pirates under the rule of King Agron, who had just died from the excesses of celebrating yet another successful raid. The rule over the pirates had now fallen to his widow Teuta.
Under Agron the Illyrians had enjoyed an alliance with Macedon and had shown care to just whose ships they attacked. Their activities had hitherto concentrated on the southern waters of Epirus and the coast of western Greece.
However, under Teuta they now attacked any vessel at sea.

Rome sent emissaries were sent to Queen Teuta, urging her to cease any attacks on Roman shipping. But the queen haughtily rejected any such attempts at diplomacy. Worse still, she arranged for the assassination of Coruncianus, the chief Roman envoy, escalated her people’s piracy to unprecedented levels and began raiding the eastern coast of Italy. (230 BC)
After an unsuccessful raid on Epidamnus (later Dyrrachium, today Durres, Albania) the Illyrians even conquered Corcyra (Corfu) and installed a garrison commanded by a Greek adventurer called Demetrius of Pharos.

It is hard to see how Teuta, having seen Rome’s power demonstrated in the defeat of Carthage, ever hoped to avoid any consequences to these actions. Perhaps the belief was that the alliance with Macedon would deter the Romans from any action against Illyria.

Rome however showed no such scruples. In 229 BC both consuls were dispatched, leading an army of 20,000 men and the entire Roman war fleet of 200 quinqueremes to deal with the Illyrian menace.
The Illyrians stood no chance. Their ramshackle fleet was swept from the sea and the Roman army drove into the interior, subjugating town after town.
The cities of Epidamnus and Apollonia, glad to see an end to the pirate menace, opened their gates to the Romans. Demetrius, having fallen out with Teuta, surrendered Corcyra to Rome.

By early 228 BC Teuta, besieged in her last remaining stronghold, made piece with Rome, agreeing to give up most of her territory, disband the remainder of her fleet and pay tribute.
Rome now established a protectorate over various Greek towns along the eastern Adriatic, declaring them amici (friends): Corcyra, Apollonia, Epidamnus/Dyrrachium and Issa.

These towns were left completely free and independent, but enjoyed a guarantee of Roman protection. Only one condition was placed upon them; that they showed Rome ‘gratitude’. In essence Rome created a moral compact between herself and these towns, whereby she acted as a protective patron and they acted as her clients.
Thus the Roman ‘client state’ was born.

However, Rome’s mistake was to believe that her chief enemy was an ordinary man. Whereas the young Punic champion facing her was one of the greatest military leaders in history.
One thing was clear. Hannibal was not going to fight a war against Rome in a manner of Rome’s choosing.

In spring 218 BC Hannibal crossed the river Iberus into Gaul at the head of an army numbering some 9,000 cavalry, 50,000 infantry and 37 elephants.
He now set about fighting his way through hostile Gallic tribal territory toward the Alps.

Coincidence had it that a reconnaissance cavalry detachment of Scipio’s, scouring the coastal area as his fleet carried the army to Spain, met with some of Hannibal’s Numidian horsemen at the river Rhodanus (Rhône), shortly after Hannibal had crossed it.

Publius Scipio did follow up on this matter, establishing that Hannibal was indeed ascending into the Alps evidently seeking to cross this natural barrier.
Yet Roman military discipline triumphed over common sense. Would the best thing have been to abandon the attack on Spain and to hasten to the southern foothill of the Alps in expectation of the enemy, Publius Scipio merely sent message to Rome, informing them of these developments. Then, as he had been ordered to do, he took his army onwards to Spain.
There are few examples that set the brilliance of Hannibal in such stark contrast against the unimaginative, stubborn approach of his Roman adversaries as does this moment. Given the good chance of an opportunity to forestall Hannibal’s plans, the Roman general instead boards his ship and takes his troops to Spain, following his orders to the very letter.

The Roman force was all but annihilated. The losses range between 50,000 and 70,000 men. Varro survived the onslaught. More than likely the consul and his staff were driven back at the initial charge of the Numidian cavalry.
The other consul, Paulus, died in battle.

Yet the First Macedonian War proved a conflict without battles for the Romans.
Inspired by the fugitive Demetrius, who had sought refuge at his court at the end of Rome’s Illyrian wars, King Philip readied a small fleet of fairly light craft in the Adriatic.
Most likely his naval ambitions centered on Illyria where his ally Demetrius might be installed and an Adriatic port might be gained for Macedon.
If Philip V ever intended any attempt on the Italian coast itself is at best speculation.
For his naval preparations came to a sudden when news of a powerful Roman fleet sailing into the Adriatic to repel him reached his court.

Through skillful diplomacy Rome built a coalition which leveled the Aetolian League, the Illyrians, Elis, Sparta, Messene and Pergamum against Macedon.
With such enemies arrayed against him, Philip V of Macedon was kept sufficiently busy in Greece, never to trouble the Romans at all for the length of the so-called First Macedonian War.
It was the Aetolian League who bore the brunt of the war. As they gave ground, Epirus, no doubt concerned at being dragged into the conflict herself, negotiated a peace between the various parties. (205 BC)

Meanwhile in Italy the stand off between Hannibal and the Romans continued, both sides struggling to tilt the precarious balance their way.
The population of Tarentum, outraged by the vicious treatment of hostages from Brundisium (they were flung from the Tarpeian rock in Rome) applied for help to Hannibal. He was happy to oblige, withdrew from Campania and marched on Tarentum, one of Italy’s richest ports.
The Punic army arrived at night, while the city’s governor, Marcus Livius, was feasting at a banquet.
The gates were opened from within and Hannibal’s men took the city. Marcus Livius fled just in time to the city’s citadel, which enjoyed such a geographical advantage, it could not be taken. (212 BC)
All of southern Italy, save the town of Rhegium, now was in Hannibal’s hands.
No doubt he prized the city of Tarentum above all for its possible importance in the alliance with Macedon. Should Philip V of Macedon ever send troops, there was now a ready gateway into Italy at which he could disembark.

Though the moment Hannibal had left Campania, the Romans had begun preparations to lay siege to Capua.
Yet when Hannibal arrived back from his successfully foray to Tarentum, having received the call for help by the Capuans, the Roman army at once abandoned their operations and fell back.
So powerful was still the name Hannibal, that no general wanted to be measured in open battle with him.

That said, 212 BC came to an end with a series of battles, all of which confirmed Hannibal’s supremacy.
First the proconsul Gracchus was successfully lured into an ambush which resulted in almost complete rout of his army.
Next an improvised force of some 16,000 men organized by a centurion, Centenius, was utterly annihilated. Finally, praetor Gnaeus Fulvius saw his force of some 18,000 cut to ribbons at the battle of Herdonea. Only 2,000 are said to have escaped with their lives. (212 BC)
Fabius’ advice not to meet Hannibal in the field was still not being heeded, it seems.
At last, winter called an end to the year’s warfare.

In 211 BC Hannibal returned to Tarentum, seeking to finally conquer the citadel of the city. Meanwhile the Romans returned to Capua and renewed their attempt at siege.
Appius Claudius and Quintus Fulvius Flaccus brought no less than 60,000 men to bear on the city. Two great defence works were drawn around the city. One to prevent the Capuans from breaking out, the second to defend against any attack from Hannibal. (211 BC)

When Hannibal eventually came rushing to Capua’s aid he was met by a system of trenches and wooden palisades that made any relief impossible. He attempted an assault on the great siege works, but was easily repulsed.

Instead Hannibal now once again undertook a bold move. He disappeared into the mountainous terrain of Samnium and then, marching only through hill country, drove northward, finally appearing before Rome.

‘Hannibal ad portas!’ went the famous cry. (‘Hannibal is at the gates!’) (211 BC)
No doubt there was a fair share of panic at the news that Rome’s most terrible enemy was before the very walls of the city. The campfires of the Punic army could be seen at night from the Capitoline hill.
Hannibal’s gamble had obviously been that Rome would recall its armies from Capua at the news of his arrival.
But old Quintus Fabius Maximus Cunctator was still alive and at the head of the senate.
He urged calm and advised that the siege of Capua should continue unabated.
Rome was not at all defenceless. She had three legions which were sent out, commanded by the consuls, to shadow Hannibal’s army, making any assault impossible.
There was a brief cavalry skirmish at the Colline Gate, when Hannibal and his horsemen ventured too close. (211 BC) Apart from that no contest of arms took place.
As quickly as he had appeared, Hannibal disappeared again, realizing his attempt at drawing off the siege from Capua had failed.
It is not sure, if all the troops remained in place at Capua. The historian Polybius tells us that all troops remained at the siege. While Livy suggests that Appius Claudius remained with his forces, while Quintus Fulvius Flaccus was recalled to drive off Hannibal.
Either way, the siege of Capua remained unbroken.

Capua was eventually starved into surrender that same year. (211 BC)
The severity with which the Romans dealt with the city which had betrayed them.
Proconsul Quintus Fulvius Flaccus watched 53 nobles scourged and beheaded in one single day, despite objections from his proconsular colleague Appius Claudius.
The whole citizenry of Capua was deported elsewhere, leaving only a remnant of artisans and tradesmen behind. The city’s lands were impounded by the Roman state.
Capua may have been Italy’s second city and chief industrial hub at the beginning of the conflict. At the wars end however, Capua would be a shadow of its former self. Its nobles dead, its population departed, its lands confiscated.

Capua and Syracuse fallen, the Sardinian rebellion at an end, Macedon embroiled in petty warfare with its Greek neighbours and the war in Spain ever more perilous, five years on from Cannae, the war was going badly for Carthage.

Rome sent two legions to Spain under the command of Claudius Nero. But Nero, an arrogant and harsh individual, made little impression on the Spanish tribes he needed to win over if ever Rome was to succeed in Spain.
Hence it was decided to replace him. The choice fell upon Publius Cornelius Scipio, the very son of the man who had been slain in battle at the Baetis river the year before.

What made the decision exceptional was that Scipio was only 25 years old. More so he was granted proconsular powers, something hitherto only given to consuls after their term in office.
But the Romans no doubt speculated on Scipio wishing to revenge his slain father and uncle. Also, the heroism he showed on Ticinus where he saved his fathers life and his patriotic stance among the survivors in the aftermath of Cannae may have marked him out as a man to rely on in a crisis.

For large image click on picture

Publius Cornelius Scipio AfricanusCapitoline Museum,
Rome

Another reason for this surprising choice of commander may have been that few others wanted the job. Spain was far away. It was always least likely to receive reinforcements and any victories gained would scarce get a mention in Rome, as long as Hannibal was in Italy. In short, the command offered little chance of political advancement or glory, so nobody wanted it.

Yet Scipio made an almost immediate impact on arrival. His name alone swayed some Spanish tribes to renew their loyalties.
Then, in 209 BC, he made his first, bold move. Realising the Carthaginian armies too far away to intervene he struck out along the eastern coast for Carthago Nova (Cartagena), the very capital of Punic power in Spain.
Once there, he took the city in a stroke of brilliance. Having made detailed inquiries he learned from the local fisherman that the lagoon was shallow enough to wade through at low tide. To his soldiers however he declared that the god of the sea, Neptune, had appeared to him in a dream and promised to support a Roman assault.
At low tide, while his army assaulted the walls Scipio lead 500 of his men across the lagoon. The city’s defenders, assaulted from without and within simultaneously stood little chance. Scipio had taken Carthago Nova by storm. (209 BC) It was a stroke of genius.

With Carthago Nova also a vast amount of treasure fell into Roman hands. Better yet, within the walls of the city were 300 Spanish hostages who assured the allegiance of various Spanish tribes to Carthage. Scipio freed them and dismissed them to their homes with utmost courtesy, so winning the sympathies of many o the noble families of Spain.

Having secured an important base, Scipio did not seek to engage the enemy any more that year, but instead concentrated on drilling his army to perform tactical manoeuvres drawn from the examples of Hannibal. He was steeling his troops for a fight.

By 208 BC Hasdrubal was becoming aware of more and more Spanish tribes going over to the new Roman general and sough to put an end to it. Scipio too was eager to fight before the three Punic armies could unite.
Scipio set out of New Carthage to Baecula (Bailen) where he emerged victorious in a hard fought battle against Hasdrubal. (208 BC)

Hasdrubal though managed to withdraw unharmed, with his treasure and most of his troops, including his war elephants. Once aware of the challenge an encounter with Scipio represented, he had no intention of repeating the fete. He had much more pressing priorities, chiefest of which was to march on Italy and reinforce his brother in the struggle for Italy.
He hence marched his army northwards and crossed into Gaul. As the east coast of Spain was entirely under control of Scipio’s forces, Hasdrubal instead slipped into Gaul at the west coast of the peninsula.
Scipio made no attempt to hinder him at such endeavour. For this he was severely criticized by his political enemies, - not least by Fabius. Gnaeus and Publius Scipio had known it their primary duty to safeguard Italy from any further invasion. For all his achievements, Scipio had failed in said duty once Hasdrubal succeeded in leaving Spain.

In Gaul Hasdrubal began recruiting, building up an army in preparation for a second invasion of Italy. So thorough were his preparations, he remained an entire year in Gaul, before, like his brother before him, he crossed the Alps and descended into northern Italy.

Rome dispatched its consuls. Marcus Livius Salinator headed north to face the new invader. Meanwhile Gaius Claudius Nero headed south to check Hannibal.
As in the north Hasdrubal was driving southwards, Hannibal manoeuvred restlessly, trying to shake loose Nero’s army in order to move north and join with his brother.
Rome was in dire danger, as any union of the two Carthaginian armies would have meant a catastrophe. At the brink of financial ruin by now, Rome was straining under the weight of war. She had 150,000 men under arms, two devastating armies in Italy and her Italian allies were growing restless.

Scipio’s breathtaking manoeuvres on the battle field utterly outclassed his opponent and were a perfect demonstration of just how far the Roman army had come since the beginning of the war. It had evolved. Had it been a blunt, lumbering giant at Cannae, then in the hands of Scipio it had become a deadly precision tool of almost balletic virtuosity by the time it came to fight at Ilipa.

The scale of Carthaginian losses at Ilipa is not known. But with both wings being virtually annihilated, the loss of life must have been severe. Scipio in the aftermath of the battle ruthlessly hunted down the remnants of the Carthaginian troops, leaving the enemy with no field forces to speak of in Spain.
The Roman gamble of sending a twenty five year old aggrieved son, who had never ascended higher than the office of aedile in politics, to command the Spanish legions had paid off. He had defeated the Carthaginians and won Spain with all her mineral wealth and manpower for Rome.

On his return to Rome Scipio was elected consul for 205 BC on a wave of popular support. But Scipio was not yet finished with Carthage.
At once he lobbied to take the war to Africa.
The senate though remained fearful of sending armies to Africa while Hannibal still remained on Italian soil with an army. Most of all Fabius, a determined political enemy of Scipio’s, opposed any venture in Africa. No doubt, he was mindful of Regulus’ disastrous expedition to Africa during the First Punic War.
It is also clear that Rome was fearful of placing yet further burdens upon her allies. The cost of the war was also proving ruinous.
But no doubt the political powers were beginning to grow worried at the rise of a military superstar such as Scipio. In the anxious minds of senators, the worry of what Scipio might do if he succeeded in Africa might well have outweighed the fear of a failure.
But Scipio persisted, indicating that if necessary he was going to seek the support of the people for such a campaign. There is no doubt that popular support for Scipio would have been overwhelming.
The senate reluctantly gave in, but did not grant Scipio the right of using the normal means of levying consular troops. He was allowed the use of the ten thousand survivors of the battle of Cannae who had been exiled to Sicily in disgrace ever since and of anyone else volunteering to join his force.
Scipio needn’t have worried. From several Italian allies volunteers arrived and from Etruria came plentiful provisions and equipment.

Scipio made for Sicily where he spent the remainder of the year drilling his new army to his exacting standards.

Hannibal’s defeat at Zama confirmed the futility of any Carthaginian hopes ever to beat Rome. Had it not been for his genius the Second Punic War would never have lasted as long as it did or been of the scale and scope it took.
It is with good reason that this contest is frequently referred to as the ‘world war of the ancient world’.
Rome’s nigh on limitless resources, the quality of her troops and the loyalty of her allies eventually proved too much even for Hannibal.
In Italy no matter how complete his victories proved in battle, the Romans could always levy yet another massive force.
Hannibal’s brilliance may have meant that Carthage could for a time face Rome as a worthy enemy. Yet no sooner did Rome possess a commander not utterly inferior to Hannibal, then all her superiority in force of arms was made to tell.

Carthage stood utterly defeated after Zama and could do nothing else but seek terms from Rome yet again. There was a few voices who demanded that even now she should fight on, defying the inevitable siege that would follow. But these die-hards were silenced by Hannibal, who saw the futility of any further resistance.
The terms of peace were doubled from what they had been prior to the battle of Zama. Carthage was to pay 10,000 talents over 50 years and her navy was to be reduced to 10 triremes. In addition she was forbidden from any warfare without expressed Roman permission. It was that last paragraph which caused great worry among the Carthaginians as it rendered their African territories helpless to the raids of their Numidian neighbours, especially as now their new king, Masinissa, was now Rome’s ally.

In general the terms of peace were generous. It was a sign of the magnanimity and humanity of Scipio’s that in victory he was able to show leniency, where some of his fellow Romans would have sought to utterly crush their helpless adversary.
It is in memory of his great victory that Scipio, the vanquisher of Africa, was henceforth known as Scipio Africanus.

Hannibal was permitted to stay on in Carthage. Most likely it was Scipio who refused to allow Roman vengeance to be enacted upon him.
Though by 190 BC Hannibal was banished from Carthage, as his old political enemies reasserted themselves. Unquestionably Roman influence will have played its part.
After traveling to Tyre, it wasn’t long before Hannibal Barca should reemerge at the court of Antiochus III of Syria.

Rome now had become one the great powers of the ancient world. The reduction of Carthage to a client state, the subjugation of Syracuse and conquest of Spain meant she was the undisputed mistress of the western Mediterranean.

In 198 BC, with the war a dismal failure so far, consul Titus Quinctius Flamininus, only 30 years of age, was dispatched to assume command.
Flamininus was an exceptional individual, with great knowledge of Greek literature and culture. Militarily he was an adept commander. He had served as a tribune under Marcellus during the war against Carthage. But it was his diplomatic skill that should prove invaluable in labyrinthine Greek politics.

Right from the beginning of his involvement in Greece, Flamininus made it clear that his intention was to drive Macedon completely from all her Greek territories, to be confined within her own boundaries.

Yet Flamininus immediate concerns were that his army, as it marched east from Epirus, got pinned down in the valley of the river Aous for several weeks. After having held the Romans in check for a month, Philip V of Macedon offered to negotiate. But Flamininus terms remained unchanged. It was six weeks into the stalemate until an Epirote shepherd revealed to the general a little known pass through which Philip’s fortified positions could be bypassed. Flamininus saw his opportunity and forced his way through the Aous valley into Thessaly. With this he had finally managed to reach his allies of the Aetolian League again.
Better yet, the Achaean League, who had remained resolutely neutral so far, now joined forces with Rome.
But still Flamininus did not attack, knowing that it would mean trying to force his way passed a firmly entrenched Macedonian army, a fete impossible with the forces he had available.
The end of 198 BC came to an end with Rome in a stronger position, but little actual achievement. Again Philip sought to negotiate. Again no resolution could be found.
Rome considered withdrawing Flamininus from Greece (no lesser than Scipio Africanus wanted the position), but eventually decided to extend his tenure.

By 197 BC the strain of war began to become too great a burden for Macedon. King Philip was receiving no support at all from his ally, King Antiochus III of Syria.
Meanwhile, his borders were virtually besieged by a joint force of Romans and Aetolians and to the south, in the Peloponnese, the Achaean League was now at liberty to attack Macedonian territory. Even the city of Corinth, Macedon’s singular, yet faithful ally, was under siege.
Meanwhile the sea belonged to the Rhodes, Pergamum and the mighty Roman navy.

The battle of Cynoscephalae was a crushing victory for Rome. It brought the Second Macedonian War to an end and allowed Flaminius to dictate his terms – not merely to his vanquished Macedonian opponent, but so too to his Greek allies.
He was charged by Rome with the settlement of Greek affairs and sent ten commissioners to assist him in this tricky task.

Macedon was to withdraw from all of Greece, was to surrender its fleet and was to provide hostages (among them King Philip’s own son, Demetrius).

Flamininus appeared at the Isthmian Games at Corinth in 196 BC and announced that Rome had only come to set free the Greek states from Macedonian tyranny and would withdraw once all was settled. The Greeks were jubilant.

Chief winners in his settlement was the Achaean League which now controlled almost all the Peloponnese. The Athenias received several islands (Paros, Scyros and Imbros). The Aetolian League though felt bitterly disappointed. Had Thessaly been freed from Macedonian occupation the Aetolians had expected it to be turned over to them. They were only to receive a small part of it, the rest of Thessaly’s towns being granted independent status.
It is clear that Flamininus was keen to preserve the balance of power in Greece. But the settlement felt like a betrayal to the Aetolians who had for much of the war borne the brunt of the fighting.
This ill feeling between Rome and the Aetolian League should have far reaching consequences, which at the time most likely no one could have foreseen.

True to his word at the Isthmian Games, Flaminius did withdrew the last Roman garrisons from the legendary ‘Fetters of Greece’ (the fortresses of Demetrias, Chalcis and Corinth) and sailed home (194 BC).

Finally the Aetolian League appealed to King Antiochus III of Syria to come to their aid.
Antiochus had concluded his successful war against Egypt and even achieved an alliance with King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. He had also made peace with Rhodes.
King Antiochus’ standing was unrivalled among the rulers of the successor states of Alexander’s empire.

Now this great king was called upon to liberate Greece from Roman oppression. More, so a ready, powerful ally already awaited him, promising other would follow if only he led his forces into Greece.

Antiochus III of SyriaBritish Museum, London

As it was, the two parties engaged in deluding each other. The Aetolian League had been desperately seeking to find supporters among the Greek states for action against Rome, but had found none interested. In an odd reversal of their recent position, the Aetolians even approached Macedon. But King Philip V, having not received one scrap of support from Syria in his recent war against Rome, now had no intention of lending support to Antiochus.
Meanwhile, Antiochus who claimed that he could pour fourth the massed ranks of Asia, alike a second Xerxes, was truly in no position to do so.

Antiochus landed in 192 BC at Demetrias in Thessaly, which the Aetolian League had successfully acquired in a coup. But his forces numbered no more than 10,000.

The plentiful allies promised by the Aetolian League never came. Far more Philip V of Maecedon and, possibly, the Achaean League allied with Rome at the arrival of the Syrian army.

Rome again was ill prepared for another war in Greece. Not least as she had wars in Liguria and Spain to contend with.
War commenced in 192 BC on a small scale. But what few Roman troops Rome used, soon found themselves cut off in Boeotia.
In 191 BC Rome therefore sent a force of 20,000 infantry, accompanied by cavalry and elephants under the command of consul M. Acilius Glabrio.
Glabrio marched on Thessaly and Antiochus at once retreated to the famed pass of Thermophylae, where once King Leonidas of Sparta had held back Xerxes’ vast host in battle.

In a strange parody of history, two foreign armies were about to contest the famous gates of Greece, both claiming to be liberators.

Antiochus set up camp in the pass of Thermopylae and blocked it with a stone rampart. Remembering how the Persians had defeated Leonidas, he sent 2,000 of his Aetolian allies to block the hidden path set within the heights above the pass.
When Glabrio arrived, he found his enemy well entrenched in an almost unassailable position. Nonetheless he advanced, pinning the great Syrian force into its defensive position, while he sent Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Elder) and Lucius Valerius with 2,000 men each up the path into the heights to meet the Aetolians.
Having twice the numbers, the Romans succeeded in forcing the pathway and then descended upon the pass from the rear.
Antiochus’ army, all aware of the importance of the path no doubt, panicked and began to flee.
King Antiochus successfully got away. But his dissolving army was slaughtered as the men desperately sought to escape the crush of the advancing Roman pincer movement. (191 BC)

Cato’s motives are unclear. Perhaps he truly believed that Rome could never be safe whilst a rich, powerful and independent port such as Carthage enjoyed her liberty.
Perhaps he was just a bitter old man, who saw the rich produce from the fertile fields of North Africa as a threat to the farmers of Italy. (One remembers how he is said to have dropped a African fig in the senate only to remind senators admiring the fallen fruit that Carthage lay only days away.)
Or, possibly, Cato’s political feud with the Scipii led him to seek to undermine their policy of leniency toward Carthage.
Either way, Cato succeeded in needling the senate and the comitia centuriata into action. In 149 BC war was declared on Carthage for breaching the terms of peace imposed by Scipio Africanus.

Rome now sent fourth her consuls Manilius and Censorinus at the head of an army of 80'000 infantry and 4'000 cavalry. They landed unopposed and set up camp near Utica.

Masinissa at once realized he was to be denied his prey and withdrew, refusing any support to the Roman enterprise.

Carthage surrendered at once.

What followed was a disgraceful charade, whereby the Romans apparently sought to negotiate terms with the Carthaginians.
First hostages were demanded. The Carthaginians without fail provided 300 youths from noble families. Next, all weaponry was to be surrendered. The Carthaginians handed over thousands of catapults and suits of armour, denuding themselves of any means of resistance.
At last the true terms were presented. The people were to abandon their great, ancient city and settle on a site ten miles removed from the coast.

The Roman terms were impossible. The Carthaginians were a people of the sea, a merchant nation founded on trade and seafaring.

But in her deceit Rome had made one vital miscalculation. Carthage was the fiercest foe she had ever met in the field. This city was imbued with an indomitable spirit which had brought forth a Hannibal Barca. She would not simply yield to trickery and disappear from history with a whimper.
The great city was now resolved on going down in history in a spectacular show of heroism that knows few equals.
Knowing their case futile, the Carthaginians took on the might of the Roman empire one last time.

Punic resilience proved of epic proportions. In all of 149 and 148 BC the Roman troops made little progress against a city which had only recently surrendered them all its armaments.
Even completing their siege works proved troublesome as they were harassed by Punic war bands in the hinterland.
To all intents and purposes the Roman campaign was in deep trouble, despite utter supremacy of arms.

Finally, in a remarkable turn of events a young officer serving in the army returned to Rome in 147 BC to stand for the office of aedile. Astonishingly the people conferred on him the consulship and command of their army at Carthage, albeit that he had no qualification for such high office and the senate counseled vehemently against such a move.
But he had shown great spirit and ability in Africa, even won the personal respect of the hostile Masinissa. - Most of all though his name was Scipio.

Better still he was the son by birth of Aemilius Paulus, the victor of the Third Macedonian War and the grandson of Scipio Africanus by adoption.
He was P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus.

What was needed to conquer Carthage was not brilliant strategy but drive, determination and most of all the ability to inspire.
The Carthaginians, commanded by Hasdrubal, were contesting every inch of ground, accomplishing nigh on impossible fetes and appeared to all intents and purposes indefatigable. Rome needed a Scipio in whom to believe.

Throughout 147 CB Scipio Aemilianus pressed on with the siege, massive engineering works being undertaken to close the harbour entrance and so cut off the few vital supplies the enemy received by sea. Scipio Aemilianus then waited for winter to pass before in early 146 BC he ordered the assault. His troops clawed their way over the outer walls against ferocious resistance.
Even once the walls were taken, Carthage was not yet won. It took another week of vicious hand to hand fighting through day and night, the Romans needing to conquer one house at a time, until they reached the Byrsa, the city’s citadel. There, finally, the surviving 50,000 Carthaginians, after four years of struggle against the most impossible odds, surrendered.

Yet still there were many who preferred death by their own hand rather than to yield to the enemy. Most famous of all the wife of Hasdrubal flung her children and herself into the flames, rather than surrender.

The Punic Wars had been truly titanic struggles. The end of Carthage was equally epic, comparable in both spirit and scale to the destruction of Troy.

By order of the senate the city was razed to the ground, the place was ritually cursed and the soil was strewn with salt. Her remaining citizens were sold into slavery.

If Roman conduct in regards to Greece and Carthage was far from creditable, then Rome’s honour sunk to an all-time low in the Spanish wars.
The problems of campaigns in Spain remained the same as they had been ever since Rome had unwittingly inherited the Carthaginian territories there at the end of the Second Punic War.
Commanders and soldiers alike were aware of being a great distance from their homeland and away from prying eyes. Accountability slackened markedly, so too did army discipline.

Army leaders knew they would have to make do with the personnel they had, as reinforcements were unlikely to be sent out.
In turn soldiers knew they were likely to be stuck in Spain fore a long time with no hope of relief.
Morale hence was low among the ordinary ranks as well among commanders. The result was appalling.

The settlement achieved by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus in 179 BC had lasted a quarter of a century.
In 154 BC the Lusitanians invaded Roman territory and in 153 BC the Celtiberians rose up.

Map: Iberian Tribes

Consul Fulvius Nobilor campaigned from 153 to 152 BC, only to suffer a crushing defeat at Numantia. Consul M. Claudius Marcellus was the man to succeed him in the field and managed to agree a peace with the Celtiberians (151 BC).
Rome now could concentrate its full force on the Lusitanians who had been achieving a string of successes. In 151 BC they severely defeated praetor Servius Sulpicius Galba.

Also in 151 BC the successor to consul Marcellus, L. Licinius Lucullus, then launched a sudden, unprovoked attack on the Celtiberian tribe of the Vaccaei, whereby he set upon the town of Cauca (Coca) and slaughtered all the men in the city. This set an unholy precedent for Roman behaviour.

Next Lucullus joined with Galba in the war against the Lusitanians (150 BC). Such were the losses of the Lusitanians they sued for peace.
The negotiations were left to Galba who tempted a several thousand Lusitanians from their homes, by a promise of resettlement to better land. Having thus drawn them away from the safety of their homes, he had them slaughtered (150 BC).

This utter treachery backfired as it only instilled in the Lusitanians a bitter desire to henceforth resist at all cost.
Had the Lusitanians been suing for peace, the war was now anything but at an end.